Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Plein-Air Painting in the 1920s



A silent black-and-white film from the 1920s (Link to YouTube) turned up in the basement of an art club.

At 2:03, it shows a group of well dressed men painting outdoors, using a variety of easels that were typical of the time.
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Thanks, Stuart Fullerton and Robert Horvath.

6 comments:

  1. Some painters still use easels similar to those in the film. Stapleton Kearns, especially, is a proponent of what is sometimes called a Gloucester easel. His recommended source is Take It Easel: http://www.takeiteasel.com/index#nice1

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  2. Charming! They are all so dapper, but I´m thinking they must be Americans; Europeans rarely let their ties flap in the wind like that - we use tie pins and clips. ;-) Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Fingers in the acid...ahhh...simpler times.

    Mind, when I studied etching in the mid seventies there was an ash tray in the acid room.

    Regards Ross

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  4. I LOVE that this is on YouTube now. Wouldn't it be great to go back and tell those artists their movie would be on a medium where it could potentially be seen by hundreds of millions of people, literally at the touch of a key? Bet they'd be darned glad they dressed nicely, eh? Love the hats especially. And I am fascinated with how clean the etcher's hands and clothes are! If that was me I'd be head-to-toe ink.

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  5. Fascinating piece of video.
    I had to see if I could find out any information on the artist E. G. Drew that was doing the demo.
    Amazingly I found a great deal on him rather quickly. Art work and bios.
    Elbert Granville Drew (1886 - 1934)
    Elbert Granville Drew was active/lived in Illinois. Elbert Drew is known for landscape painting.
    Always interesting, thanks Jim.

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